The Taken
by klcm
Summary: The team wake up in a strange place, the men are all bound by barbed wire, made to watch horrors that the women must endure... Soon it becomes a game of cat and mouse! warning! this is not an entirely happy story! Possible character deaths may occur!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

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Waking up you always have an elevated level of confidence. I don't know what it is but first thing in the morning you always feel like life's great, like anything's achievable but as the day wears on confidence fades and self esteem drops and you become the every day you. Except this morning wasn't right, this morning I woke up with sharp pains around my arms and the sound of whimpering, the sound of fear. There was no confidence exuding my body this morning.

I woke up to the sight of the three women of my team with their hands restrained in contractions above their heads, blood running down their arms, and tape over their lips. They were already awake when I woke up; already awake in a new world of pain where the confidence didn't fill every cell and nerve in their body. They woke up to immediate pain and fear, and their faces still illustrate those same emotions even now.

I've been awake helping them stay calm with the help of my other 3 colleagues and close friends who have also been taken for far too long now. I have the man next to me who joined the team last, he's the oldest but a loyal companion no end, his attention split equally between the three ladies. To my left I have the man that is always the one to get in first and if need be use force; he is the one whose attention is directed on the blonde in the middle. Next to him is the youngest of the team, the one that is usually the target of some mad hatters trap but for once and unnervingly here he is, unhurt with only a miniscule pinprick in his arm from a sedative and the awaiting harm of barbed wire, his attention to the blonde on the left. Me, my attentions on the brunette on the right.

We can't do anything but watch the blood as it ceaselessly runs from their encasements down their slender arms. We hear the door open, the thud of heavy boots, the heavy breathing of a smoker. We see him, we see him crouch in front of the three women, we see him run a hand unremitting and claiming over their faces, around the curve of their breasts and then we watch as he unlocks their hands and they slump into the women's laps. There's nothing we can do as he touches them again, if we do our arms get even more of a shredding than from previous fights for freedom from the barb wire wrapped around them. The man gets up and leaves, never touching us, never assaulting us, just leaving us. Never once undeterred from our yelling and hurling of abuse and our yearn for the answers.

Now we see the women are free... or so we thought. They are clasped at the waist now, continually shackled there against the wall. Their hands are red, there's too much of the one colour. Their hands shake and they raise them as high as the pain will allow them. I can see the holes, the punctures, the blood is understandable now, the pain for them unimaginable. The blonde on the left is crying now, the other blonde and the brunette look at her and can't help the tears as they fall and then the assessment of the damage happens. Their hands are immobilised and too far damaged to fight back. That's the first warning that this is only going to get worse, the women not being able to use their hands makes them easy.

Things are going to get worse. A lot worse and there is absolutely nothing us men can do but watch as our three women get man handled and hurt. We will continually try to rip through the barb wire and endure the pain to get to them. There is no giving up for us.

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Authors Note!

I apologise for the horribleness of this! It's a dare I have been given by a friend... it will not be nice and it is a lot different to my happy endings but go with it and I hope you enjoy!

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	2. Tallying up

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

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'His doing this deliberately, keeping them gagged and not us.' Hotch said looking at the moment, JJ was crying still, Penelope was crying intermittently and Emily was sitting emotionless, several tears escaped in pain. 'Girl's are you okay?' He got nods and shrugs of the shoulders. 'I want you put your hands up, show us and twist them so we can see what's happened got it?' They all nodded. 'JJ?' JJ complied; one large hole through the middle, little ones dotted all over, puncture holes literally covering all other spare space. She then dropped her hands. 'Penelope?' She did the same, with almost identical injuries. 'Emily?' The process was repeated and the conclusion was drawn that all three women had identical wounds, which meant blood flow was going to be the same on them all.

The door then swung open, the man with the unhealthy breathing came in but there were louder footsteps that followed. The women's eyes widened as three men followed the man from earlier. They saw the new metal contractions in his arms and the panic grew as he placed them against the wall. 'Men you have 10 minutes, take your pick, have some fun but I do not want them back conscious.'

'No! Leave them alone!' Hotch yelled as all men thrashed against the barbed wire in desperation.

'Aaron Hotchner... what are you going to do about it?'

'Kill you when I get out!'

He laughed again. 'How about you Derek Morgan? Or you Spencer Reid or even you David Rossi?

'I will personally kill you slowly if you hurt them.' Derek spat out, his eyes never leaving Penelope.

'Men, do what you've been paid for.' The three men did as they were asked and the women were unclasped and taken. The men watched as the metal contraptions on the wall were changed with what he had brought in. They all saw that the belt like devices had one long spike on it, there was no way they could help the ladies now but again they tried to break of the barbed wire. The man paced, back and forth, back and forth.

'What are they going to do with them?' Derek asked after his mind grew with images of Penelope getting beaten.

'Oh it's just a 10 minute bit of fun between them.'

'Why have you taken us?' Rossi asked after shaking his head of all the scenarios of what 'fun' could be had.

'I just think people deserve a chance to perform their abilities.'

'Their abilities?' Reid said in disbelief.

He just smirked. 'Here they come.' He said, the men had lost track of time, the fastest 10 minutes of their lives they had to agree. JJ was put down first. 'Now, now wait for all three ladies to be down.' Penelope was slumped down and then Emily. 'Okay 3... 2... 1.' All three men closed the new restraint with its new contrivance. They then all just left.

The men looked at the women; JJ had 2 black eyes evidently showing already, a nose bleed and a few scratches. Penelope had a cut to her head, two cuts around the tape on her lip and a bruise coming out on her jaw. Emily had a black eye, a cut along her jaw and bruising to her cheek. Now they saw the creeping blood as it climbed like ivy on their clothes, it wasn't deep but the initial blood flow was always heavy enough. The spike wasn't as long as they first anticipated but it was still long enough.

They sat for ages feeling like they had done nothing to help the women and now injuries were beginning to tally up. They released a bit of pent up breath when Penelope groaned with an evident headache and opened her eyes, as her eyes adjusted and her mind caught up she looked at where the sharp pain was ricocheting from and her eyes widened at the evident mental digging into her stomach.

'Penelope, it can't be deep okay?' Hotch tried to reassure. 'Penelope look at me, at us.' Penelope looked at him, her eyes darting between them. 'It's not long enough to be deep, just don't move much, if you move it will dig in.' She nodded. 'Are you okay?' He sighed after saying it, it was not really the question that was to be asked in this dilemma but he needed to know, he sighed even more when she just shrugged. They watched her raise her hand shakily and press the base of the palm without cuts to it to her head. She then just let her hand dropped, as it began to throb and her head continued to pound. They fell into a silence again; Penelope's eyes stuck to her hands, the men looking from each woman to the next. They noticed Penelope trying to close her hand, even if in a simple cup shape but she got frustrated that she couldn't even put her index finger to her thumb.

'Pen... leave it be.' She looked at Derek, her eyes wide with terror that she couldn't achieve a simple command. 'P your hands are damaged leave them, you'll only make it worse.' She nodded and gave up, no longer after that the door flew open and hit the wall forcefully. They heard a sigh and nothing more; the man just walked in and unlocked the iron restraint. Penelope's breath hitched as the spike was pulled from her side, and the colour loosened from her face as she felt sick. The men ripped their arms to shreds as they watched him take her but again much to their frustration to not prevail.

In the time since Penelope had been taken Emily woke up, her initial response was to move against the foreign dig in her side. Hotch stopped her, and they repeated the process they had done with Penelope. They heard the door get opened and they could only watch from Emily what was happening. Her emotions swam from terror, to fear, to worry, to sadness and endless others. They heard a thud and then the sound of tape being ripped off skin, they then heard the sound of pain from the glue that had attached too much. They then heard the coughing of Penelope and then she was brought into view and then fettered to the wall again, the pain ripping through her facial expressions. Then Emily was taken with much belated protests.

'Pen what did he do?' They asked as they took in her dishevelled look, wet from the shoulders up. She continued to cough and then put her head back as though it was difficult to breath temporarily.

'Head... underwater.' She said in amongst coughing. She heard 4 angry lots of breathing and then a groan coming from the blonde on her left. She coughed again and used one of her hands to gently apply pressure to the spike that was now inserted in her other side, too many pains to concentrate on one alone.

Again Hotch repeated the process with JJ and she stayed calm, Penelope had now forgotten her pain and put her hand on JJ's leg. She continued to cough long after Emily was brought back and JJ was taken.

'Em you okay?'

'Yeah... I guess.' She croaked, the same wetness that Penelope had. 'Why is he doing this?' She said confused, her job background completely forgotten as the pains pulsated through her lungs, and her stomach and her hands.

Rossi looked at the men and they nodded. 'He is trying to give people the chance to do their abilities.'

'So he's holding us so he can be a psycho?' Penelope spoke with a clearer voice.

'One of them... he's stopping us from doing our job.'


	3. Velocity

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

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It had been 9 hours give or take since the last wounds were inflicted, each woman now nurse a broken wrist and more scratches. The men's arms were torn, and ripped, and dripping blood but this didn't discourage them. However, it seemed every time their hands got even remotely close to freedom, the barbed wire did what it could and tightened into a hurtful grip.

They had noticed that the man had an order, since the women had woken up from the beatings the first time; Penelope was always taken first, followed by Emily and then JJ. This time when he took Penelope he left the door open, the breeze floated through the walkway and around them before recirculating. They heard metal on metal; a few whimpers and those noises made Derek go ballistic against his wounding restraints.

A pain filled whimper filled their ears and the women cried, the men got angry as they couldn't help, for once in their lives they felt completely useless. They heard the rough voice echo, then a huff and the sound of near dragging someone. Penelope was retrained back down, with more tears on her face, a new piece of tape over her lips and then Emily was gone again. She fiddled with the metal around part of her right arm, and put her head back against the pain that was now radiating up her arm. They saw the new ringlets of blood as it escaped from under the metal and then heard the repeat of sound effects, this time Emily howled in pain, and they knew they still had to listen through JJ, who was currently looking more and more petrified with each now reverberated noise that filtered through.

'Pen you okay?' She nodded, her eyes never leaving the new metal. They listened as Emily was dumped back down, a similar metal device on her arm, tape over her mouth, they had all her heard her cry out and knew they would have to hear it with JJ. The man latched her back up and moved to Penelope, he took the metal contraption from her arm and Penelope near enough fainted as she felt the metal spikes get drawn out of her skin, the man dropped it on the floor in front of Hotch and the men all saw what had been put on Penelope's arm, and what was on Emily's arm right now and what was soon to be put on JJ's and just like that JJ was gone. By the time he came back Penelope and Emily were now slumped asleep, they heard the smirk and they all fought against the wire and he took Penelope again. Things were happening too frequently and too order.

The man knew they weren't going far, the door was left opened again and they heard the sound of the tape being ripped from the skin. The familiar sound of pain rang out and then the gush of water. They all exchanged looks, Derek ripped more than the others as he heard the noises, his thrashing gained him more cuts but he didn't care. The man dumped an unconscious Penelope on the floor and moved onto Emily. He took the metal device off and left it on the floor, JJ completely unaware of everything as she slept. They all looked at Penelope, she was soaked from head to toe, her body shaking with evident chills, her eyes shut, new cuts pulsating blood. Derek tore even more and his arm came free, minutes later Hotch prevailed and they both got free, they wasted no time with self assessment, they both realised that Reid and Rossi were not far behind them with freedom. Hotch helped completely free the two other men, Derek rushed to Penelope's side, he picked her up, felt her jump at the touch and then cradled her to give her body heat. When he looked over Hotch and Rossi had left the room and a situation could be heard, Reid was checking on JJ and Derek needed to check on Penelope, he needed to see the severity of her wounds.

'Pen.' He said as he ran a hand over her bruised face. He felt her shivering from the coldness and pulled her closer. Her eyes began to open; he looked at her lips, sore and cut. 'That's it P... you need to open your eyes.'

'Der...rek.' She croaked, her jaw chattering together.

'Yeah baby girl, we're going to get you out.' She nodded and finally let some tears out. 'I'm going to lay you down; I need to check you over.' She didn't reply to him, she just closed her eyes against the pain and to combat the chills. She felt him lift the top up and gently touch around the areas. Derek looked at Penelope's stomach as it lay bare, she had stab wounds all over, some he knew how she got, and others were new and unknown. He looked at her hands closer this time and her arms, the punctures all over them, the holes. He looked back her face and saw her eyes were closed, her body beginning to shake even more violently. He pulled her up and sat against the wall, her body close so he could transfer as much body heat as possible.

Reid looked over JJ as she sat staring at Penelope. Her eyes swollen from the beating, the bruising severe. He too looked over her hands and arm, the metal device still yet to be removed from her arm. She whimpered at the touch but became more aware of everything. 'I'm going to look for a key.' She nodded and he scrambled to his feet and ran out of the door, resurfacing, he unlatched her from the waist restraint and then took off metal entrapment on her arm. He pulled her into his arms as she began to cry even more, evident that things didn't look good for her, and they looked worse for Emily and Penelope. He felt the cuts as he held her close and he was scared of hurting her but she clung to him for dear life and he knew not to break that bond, not until she was entirely ready to do so.

'Kid... where's Hotch?'

'They're sorting Emily out... she's pretty much like Pen.'

'And the bloke?'

'Bleeding out tied to up.' Reid eyed up the seemingly asleep Penelope in Derek's arms. 'Is she okay?'

'No... we need to get her out of here, I can't get her warm.'

'Blood loss makes the body colder, that and it seems he showered them in ice cold water making the body temperature plummet.'

Rossi ran into the room. 'We need to move them, we've found a room with beds in, strangely its equipped for 7 people. Is it safe to move them?'

'We need to get blankets for Pen.' Rossi nodded and watched Morgan look down. 'Pen you need to wake up so we can get you warm.' She remained unresponsive. 'Pen come on.'

'Morgan just carry her.' Derek nodded and stood putting Penelope in his arms, her head fell onto his chest. 'Right let's get her in the room.' Derek followed Rossi, Reid stuck around in the room sorting JJ out, he decided he would follow in a few minutes, for now he was sorting out JJ. When they made it into the room there were indeed 7 perfectly made beds with initials, their initials. Derek laid Penelope on one and began to grab spare blankets, Rossi helped while Hotch helped Emily. When she remained cold Derek got on the bed and pulled Penelope close to him trying to enforce some body heat that she needed.

'The shivering is stopping.' Derek said as Penelope stopped her shaking of coldness, now she was shaking from pain and fear. 'Come on baby girl.' He said and kissed her head. 'I need you to come through this.'

'Morgan she's waking up.' Rossi said as he approached them.

'Come on baby girl, you need to stay awake.' He said looking down, rocking her gently as he tried to generate heat; he felt her body shake more, not from pain, or chills but sobs. 'Ahh Pen we are going to get you out.' He put his lips to her head. 'I promise.' He looked up as Reid came in helping JJ, holding her ribs protectively; Reid sat her down and wrapped a blanket around her.

'Reid with me... we need to find a way out.' Reid nodded and followed Rossi out after making sure JJ was laying down fine.

Hotch got up and approached Derek and Penelope, he crouched and moved some straggles of hair to inspect Penelope closer, her eyes were closed but tears were spilling out. He stood and walked from the room. The only thing they heard was the sound of kicks and the wind being knocked out of someone's lungs.


	4. Predicaments

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

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Derek didn't know whether Penelope was asleep or unconscious but he still sat there cradling her, it had been too long since they had heard the sound of the beating echo and he decided he needed to go and search, so he eased Penelope down, wrapped her up more to help the chills, checked JJ over, who was definitely asleep and then he went to Emily who appeared to be unconscious, he knew from the state of both Penelope and Emily they needed out. He ran from the room and saw Hotch lying on the floor, a head wound and an evident beating had occurred. The noise wasn't Hotch beating the crap out of the man behind all this, it was the vice versa. He became wary of his surroundings, to the noises, the feelings, he then realised that Reid and Rossi hadn't come back. It was then he was caught aware and dropped to floor when a baseball bat hit him around the head.

When Hotch came to the first thing he noticed was that there was a blurry figure next to him, he placed a hand to head and slowly remembered that he had got in a few punches before being taken down. He crawled to the figure and realised it was Derek; he checked him over but could only make clear that he was suffering from a similar head injury. He tried his hardest to get his entrusted colleague to come to but to no prevail, he stood, he needed to check on the girls. He ignored his pounding head and made his way slowly to the room they had been in. He was stunned to find only JJ in there. He knew neither Penelope or Emily were in any state to move about on their own. He had witnessed Emily stumble and her legs collapse earlier and he was sure Penelope was far worse seeing as she endured the full torture of the icy shower and stabbings whereas Emily had endured about three quarters. He checked JJ over and she shot awake.

'JJ... do you know where Pen and Em are?' He asked hastily.

'No... Hotch your head.'

'Is fine... I need you to come with me, I don't know what's happening but I don't want you left on your own.' She nodded and looked over his shoulder when he turned he saw Derek stumble in slightly confused but ready to fight back none the less.

'Where are they?!' He spat out in anger, seeing the two beds that were covered in blooded blankets empty.

'Morgan calm down, we can't leave JJ but we need to ready ourselves for anything.' He then looked at JJ as she eased herself off the bed. 'You sure you can do this?'

'I've got to.'

'Stick with us okay?'

'Rossi and Reid?'

'Last I knew they were going to find a way out.' Derek dropped in; worrying about the missing pair that were supposed to be in the room, it was then a piecing scream rang through.

'Emily!' Hotch yelled as he recognised it. They then heard a second blood curdling scream.

'Penelope!' Derek shot up. 'We need to go.'

'Now!' JJ said as she stood up with minimal help from her tortured hands. She stumbled slightly but was determined to get to her friends. They walked with different levels of concentration but with equal amounts of determination and anger.

'Guys where are you going?' Came Rossi's dishevelled voice, when they turned around they saw a bruise and a long cut on his face.

'What happened to you?'

'I don't actually know but Reid's missing.' He saw as he wiped more blood from his face. 'I heard screaming but couldn't pin point it.'

'Me and Morgan got hit, then we heard Emily and Penelope scream.' Hotch said his worry escalating as another member of his team was now missing. 'We need to get to them.' Everyone agreed, Derek already full steam ahead, as his mind had had time to refocused and his main intention was to help his friends, and his love.

'Please!' They heard Penelope scream in pain. 'Don't!' That picked up nerves in all four members, when they only heard Penelope, they wondered about Emily. 'No!' Penelope coughed and they heard her get cut off, no other screams, pleas, begs, noises came after that.

They ran until they came to three corridors. Derek turned to the others. 'Where do we go?' JJ turned her attention to Hotch, her eyes pleading for the answer of the same question.

'I don't know, we don't know if it's safe for us to split up.'

'But we have to.' Rossi said.

'Yeah, they have them; you heard Pen's voice, his hurting them! More! Now!' Derek said trying to cover up his panic for not just their sanity but for his own.

'We didn't hear Emily.' JJ said as she started to shake with fear, she was right, they had only heard Penelope. 'Hotch we got to split up.'

'Okay JJ with Rossi, go there , Morgan go down there, and I'll go down there, if you find them, make noise attract us back... wait here for the other to get back, regroup and head towards the noise.' They nodded and took in the instructions. They all then separated and went down the corridors, Hotch stalked the walls, listening to noises in front and behind, Morgan did what his job told him, creep, be quiet, the other person is always louder, and Rossi and JJ walked slowly, Rossi understood that JJ was injured but she wouldn't give up and he wouldn't make her.

Rossi heard the whimpering first, then JJ picked up on it, he needed his eyes to see it first before he attempted noise and JJ appeared to be in the same frame of mind, as they walked more towards the noise they both recognised it as Penelope, they picked up pace and found a large door, it was slightly open and they peered in, Emily and Penelope were now both suspended in the air, their feet barely touching the floor, a hook between their hands and the ropes, a chain leading to ceiling. Emily was evidently completely unconscious, whereas, Penelope's body quivered as she basically hung by her hands; her head drooped forward, her whole body screaming pain. It was a scary contrast from Emily's still body, when Rossi caught a glimpse of the new blood seeping from the side of Emily's top he turned to JJ.

'He is still in there.' He whispered. 'Go back, go down the corridor, keep an eye out, go get either Morgan or Hotch but can you be quick?'

'Why?' JJ asked as she hadn't seen everything and then another thud was heard. 'What was that?' She panicked, and it escalated as a painful sob rang out. 'Pen?'

'JJ I need you to go... now... to help them, they need you to go and get Hotch or Morgan!' He whispered back, trying to her to keep his voice down. 'I'm going to make a diversion but you need to get them here.' JJ nodded and left, finding a new lease of life, he waited for her to go and be at a safe distance before he swung the door open fully.

'What the fuck?!' Yelled the man as he stopped the bat mid swing, about 7 inches from connecting with Penelope's side again.

'Let them go.' Rossi said as he entered the room, Penelope lifted her head slightly, the pain scrawled on every part of her face, the tears that had made tracks down her cheeks made him more determined to get her and Emily out of the life threatening predicament.

'Ah why would I do that?' The unknown mad man said as he paced, hitting his left palm with the bat in a mocking manner, an evil grin pasted to his lips. 'Where would be the fun in that?'

Rossi thought hard, if he could buy more time he could save the girls from suffering more tortuous actions. 'Well why do you want them?'

'I have a certain fancy for ladies me.' He said as he used the bat to lift Emily's head. 'I love all women, the brunettes, the blondes.' He said as he let her head fall and repeated it to Penelope. 'They are all vixens in their own rights, all beautiful, every man deserves to play.'

'So how many women have you had?'

'Well's let just say Miss Jareau, Miss Garcia and Miss Prentiss here are not my first 3, nor are they in my twentieths.' Rossi felt sickened. 'You men, on the other hand, are here, to see what people are truly capable of, us 'Unsubs' can be mean, real mean.' It was then, at Rossi's unexpected mind, that he swung round and finally connected the bat with Penelope's side, she howled in pain that cut out and her breathing worsened. It was then Rossi felt a presence to his side.


	5. Careful Planning

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

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The presence didn't stop, it shot passed Rossi and slammed into the man, the baseball bat rolled to an unreachable distance from the assailant's hands and Rossi claimed it as his. He watched Derek as he didn't rest up on the beatings he was issuing, all with pure infuriated anger, red hot raw anger. It was obvious then that Derek had witnessed the final blow to Penelope's side. Rossi secured the bat and edged towards Emily and Penelope, he felt for a pulse on Emily and found a weakened one, he inspected her side and as he thought he found a rib protruding the skin, ripping her top on the side. He then moved to be in front Penelope.

'Penelope, I'm going to lower these down okay?' He said as Penelope hung, violently shaking from everything, he got no response but he knew he had to do it. He found the button and lowered Emily first, he then realised that Hotch ran in and was helping lay Emily down. When he was done he watched Hotch go to Penelope and tell him to halt what he was doing.

'Penelope, are you ready to do this?' She nodded slightly and he gave the indication to Rossi, they both slowly eased her down, Rossi then untied and detached Emily from the hook, while Hotch sorted Penelope. 'Morgan... I think he's not going far but get here.' Hotch said not looking up as he inspected Penelope's side. 'Pen how many times did he hit you?'

'7, 8 I don't... know.' She said with her eyes slowly opening. 'Emily?'

'Is fine.'

'Hotch let Morgan look over Penelope, you get here to Emily, I'm taking him.' Rossi spat out, he stood and looked around. 'JJ?'

'I don't know.'

'Me neither.'

'Crap! I'm sorting this out and going to find her and Reid.'

'Take the bat.' Hotch warned, Rossi complied and ran carefully from the room, a mission underhand to get the remaining members back to the others. The one thing Rossi knew at that moment in time was that anyone that stepped in his way would feel the wrath of one angry SSA and he would be brutal with it.

'You head.' Penelope gasped as she lay looking at Derek. Her eyes squeezed shut as she felt Derek felt her sides. 'Stop it!' She near enough screamed. 'Please.' Her voice thick with pain, her breathing getting rapid.

'Pen you need to let me look.'

'Some are broken.' She whispered and she felt Derek place a hand on her head. 'I can't breathe.' She said in panic as she started to gasp for air.

'Hotch! I need your help!' Hotch having made sure Emily was as okay as she could be made haste and got opposite Derek, the pair sat her up to alleviate the pressure from laying down. 'Pen you need to stay calm to get your breathing back.' She nodded while he rubbed her back to help, soon her breathing returned to a pace that wasn't normal but it was more bearable for Penelope.

'We aren't going to make it out of here are we?' She said as she rested on Derek slightly.

'We are going to try.' Hotch said as he made his way back to Emily. 'We aren't giving up.'

'You two go, I'll look after Emily.' Penelope bargained breathlessly. 'Bring back help.'

'We are not leaving you baby girl. Do not even try to argue us off this. Now can you stand?'

'I don't... know.' She said as she felt Derek help her up more so she placed against the wall.

'I'm going to help you.'

'And Ems waking up see we can do this Penelope, don't give up hope just yet.' Hotch said optimistic, not shocked that their usually optimistic bubbly one was sitting on the other side of the fence for once. 'Come on Emily Prentiss wake up and be stubborn.' He pleaded, he heard her groan in mass pain. 'I need something to tie around her.

'Sheet.' Penelope said getting quieter every time she spoke. 'In the room.'

'I'll go... P you don't do anything but keep talking to Hotch and Emily... got it?'

'Got it.' He kissed her on the lips which came as no surprise to any of them at all and literally fled the room in an angered sprint. When he came back in he found Penelope and Emily closer together, both looking on the verge of finding a painless oblivion. He handed Hotch a sheet and then moved next to Penelope.

'Right baby girl, you going to lift your arms a bit me to get this around you.' She just lifted her arms a bit for him.

'Derek we need to watch out, they're both coughing up blood.'

'Shit! Really?' Hotch nodded, they both knew when blood was coughed up, a lung was punctured, the need for survival escalated. He put the sheet around Penelope, as Hotch did the same with Emily; both men tied the sheet to support their ribs, Emily whimpered a bit from the protruding rib on her side but bite down through it. 'There's no sign of the others.' Derek said concerned.

'None?'

'Nope.' Derek then crouched in front of Penelope. 'You okay to stand now?' She just put her hand out and he helped her stand, again Hotch and Emily did the same, both women leaning for support to walk. 'You're doing good.'

'Yeah both of you are... right let's do this.' They walked slowly, more groans came Emily than Penelope, the injuries taking it out of them differently, Derek and Hotch back tracked and came to the end of the corridor, and they then went back towards the room with the beds and found Rossi.

'Where have you been?'

'I put him in one of the restraints the girls were in and I found Reid and JJ, problem is they are pretty guarded and its wet, it might not be wise for the girls to go in there.'

'Wet?'

'There are ten cages in the room, in water, only a bit above water.'

'Are they in them?' Rossi nodded. 'Fuck... okay well lets go.'

'I can't find anyone else apart from the three that gave the initial beatings and they are all in that room.'

'We need to distract them.'

'Let me... I can have them run just give me the baseball bat.' Rossi and Derek looked at Hotch. 'Look I'm leader you have to listen to me.' The men agreed and listened intently. 'Okay Rossi you know where the room is so you cause a distraction. Derek stay with the girls in the room with the beds, keep the door closed and be ready, I'll tap five times to let you know it's me, Rossi you do the same when you're done.'

'So Morgan's protecting the girls, I'm waiting for you to draw them all out?' Hotch nodded. 'Strange as it sounds but I have a good feeling about this.'

'Me too.' Derek agreed.

'Well good because this is going to work!' Hotch prompted, he looked at Emily. 'Right Em, just a bit more okay?'

'Okay.' She said painfully and they took the girls into the room and placed them on beds next to one another. 'Right Morgan barricade yourself in, no more harm is coming to them.'

'I got it don't worry but get them out.'

'We will don't worry.' The last sight Hotch got of Emily was her coughing and he felt unnerved at mass of injuries she had but driven to get her out, the same with Penelope, he looked at Rossi. 'Ready?'

'As I'll ever be.' The two men stalked the corners once they heard the sound of the bed being moved over the front of the door. The shadows were thick and there were plenty of them which worked in their favour, both men praising the dim lighting instead of cursing it. Rossi lead the way and showed Hotch what they were dealing with, Reid was still unscathed just wet and suffering a head wound like all the other men, and JJ looked paralysed with coldness, and pains. Three men paced, but Hotch could tell that without the man behind it all they were easily lead away. The two agents walked to the door, Rossi opened it and Hotch came into view of all of the men.

'I've got something you want.' All men looked at one another astounded. 'He's the man that hired you... did you get paid yet?' The men hesitated. 'Well?' They shook their heads. 'Well if you want your payout for us, you better get him before I do.' Hotch said and flashed both Reid and JJ a looked before the men charged and he disappeared from the doorway. The chase had begun.


	6. A Closer Freedom

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

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Rossi held back in the shadows, he watched Hotch run as fast as he could and when the third assailant left he edged into the room, he soon realised the water around JJ was reddening and he knew he had to get her out soon, he smashed the lock open and pulled the gate up, he then helped JJ up and out but not without causing immense pain to her. Then he got Reid out and they left the room grabbing any object that would help with attacks, they knew JJ was weakening right in front of their eyes and now they stalked the shadows as though they were their friends until they made it back to the room with the beds, for now that was their sanctuary.

They heard a scuffle happening down the hall and prayed that Hotch was getting the upper hand, Rossi knocked rapidly on the door five times and they heard the bed being moved, Derek opened the door slightly and relaxed at the sight of them, Rossi got JJ in with Reid's help and put her down on the bed while Derek secured the room.

'I'm going back, you need to stay here Morgan, Reid's too cold to do anything at the moment.' He looked at Emily and Penelope. 'They're not looking good are they?'

'No.' Derek answered petrified at the thought. 'Pen's waking up every now and again, whereas Emily's just out of it, she did say they hit her 11 times before she felt her rib go.' He saw the sickening look grow on Rossi's face. 'Just go get Hotch.'

'I'm going, watch out for JJ she has new wounds by the look of it.' Derek nodded and then opened the door, repeating the process, allowing Rossi to leave and closing it all up again. Derek then turned back to the room, he saw Penelope getting up, JJ sitting huddled into Reid and Emily still remaining unconscious, first he needed to get Penelope to stay laying down, he would then see to the two new occupants and then he needed to check JJ and Reid over fully.

Rossi crept along and heard angry voices, he looked at his hands thankful for the pole he had grabbed, he bound into the room no fear to him at all and saw one of the unknown assailants on the fall bleeding heavily from his head why the others tried to get at Hotch from two angles.

'Hey!' Rossi yelled immediately, the pair looked round and Hotch shot Rossi a thankful glare, he then got the baseball bat and smacked one around the head with it, the other one launched himself at Rossi and he swung forcefully with the pole. Hotch didn't weaken on his beating obviously getting out all the rage he felt for the girls pain, moments later all three men were down.

'You've killed him.' Rossi said looking up from feeling the man's throat. 'In self defence Aaron.' Hotch nodded, the pair then got the other two unconscious bodies and dragged them to the room that team had woken up in, they latched them to the wall not caring about the spike. They looked at the main master of the place, pale, and vying for the attention to get released, Hotch and Rossi just walked out of the room and closed the door behind them, they reached the door and knocked five times.

The door opened and Derek literally rested against the wall happily. 'Thank God.' He said as he opened the door more and let them in, Hotch ran to Emily, Rossi just secured the door while Derek ran to Penelope, now the real survival would happen.

'I think we need to go searching for a way out.'

'I'll go.' Hotch said standing up.

'Morgan you okay to stick around here?' Rossi asked, only because Derek had seen the downhill of two of the member's health, whereas Hotch and Rossi had no real idea.

'I don't mind going.'

'No stay here...' Rossi reinforced and turned to JJ and Reid. 'JJ why don't you lay down and get some rest?' JJ just nodded her response. 'Reid may be best if you walk a bit, generate some heat.' Reid nodded as well, and helped JJ out. 'Come on Hotch, the quicker we do this, the quicker we can get them out.'

The men left and crept down the halls again, Rossi nursing the pole in his hands, Hotch the baseball bat at the ready, both stalking like a predator after its prey, ready. They walked for what seemed like ages until they found a kitchen type of room. 'I think we aren't supposed to get out.' Hotch said as he walked to the fridge. Inside were stacks of barbiturates, rohypnol, Neuroleptic drugs. 'I think he was going to have some fun with these.' Hotch said as Rossi approached him.

'That's not good at all... especially seeing as rohypnol is used for...'

'Don't say it... they are safe with Morgan and Reid.' Hotch stopped Rossi before he could mention the word that sent shudders up their spine. He then reached in and took a bottle of water. 'It's sealed.... should we take some with us?'

'Well let's look around and then head back when we find something and then we can...' He halted as vibrating could be heard, it was intermittent which warranted the evidence of a phone being around, they searched and found it. Rossi flipped it up and read out the text.

'BAU's finest! Are you completely idiotic? The police and fucking F.B.I. are on to it now! Let them go or else!'

'It seems he picked the wrong people up.'

'Not any more heart warning is it though?' Hotch asked. '911! Ring them, this is our way out!' Rossi complied and rang the number, he listened intently as Rossi told them what the problem was, he smiled and relaxed as he spoke and Hotch didn't feel dread in his stomach. 'Well?'

'They tracked the number they are sending patrols and ambulances now.'

'Let's get back.' They hurried and grabbed water but as they were making their way back, and were about to tap when the lights dimmed before going on full beam, no more shadows hid them, the two men walked hastily to the room where Penelope and Emily were beaten and hid, they heard heavy footsteps matching, they walked past the room and went into the original room, Rossi looked out made sure they had the all clear and they ran to the room, Derek moved the bed and let them in, but Rossi gasped and fell into the room.


	7. trickery or not?

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

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As Rossi lay on the floor, Hotch and Derek pushed the door shut regardless of the being on the outside trying to get in, they heard multiple banging but then it all went quiet on them.

'Rossi!' Reid said as he tried to stop the bleed that was coming from the older man's back. Rossi flinched under Reid's hands, the knife still in his back between the shoulder blades. Derek dropped to his other side, as did Hotch.

'We need to pull it out to get pressure on it.'

'Just pull it out then!' Rossi spoke through gritted teeth. 'Now!'

'Hang on, Morgan grab a sheet we can use it to apply pressure the moment we get the knife out.'

'Get it out!'

'We will but we can't have you bleeding out on us can we?' Rossi grunted slightly with pain. 'Right you ready?'

'Just do it!' Hotch pulled the knife out and Derek pushed the sheet to Rossi's back. 'Shit!' He gritted out again as the amount of pressure intensified to great measures.' Get me off this floor.'

'Rossi you should stay still.'

'I don't care... put me on one of the beds and help the girls out.'

'They're all asleep.'

'In JJ's case that's right.' The three men knew they wouldn't win this so they helped him up, propped him against one of the walls to apply pressure to his back, knowing he wouldn't let them help them as much now.

Hotch looked over Emily, her breathing was shallow and prolonged, her lips stained with blood, her features far from their usual snow white effect. He looked to her side, the blood, a deep colour as it stained the sheet, he knew if they didn't get help soon she might get blood poisoning from the break in her ribs, he'd read so many reports about it happening but didn't want to think it was plausible.

Derek touched Penelope's face, and her eyes opened to look at him, he felt a breath exhale that she wasn't in an unresponsive state. He heard her breath rattle, the blood that had dried on her lips, the pain as it wouldn't allow her eyes to open far. He knew that any longer in this place and she wouldn't be able to keep a grip on whether or not she fell into the oblivion where pain was no more.

Reid held JJ, she had long since woken up and panicked over Rossi, he felt her shake and when he looked down at her he saw the beads of sweat gathering on her forehead. He knew the signs of shock and this was definitely the beginning, he kept looking at Penelope and Emily, as JJ's eyes were stuck to them but for the most part his main attention was keeping JJ as calm as possible.

Hotch stood up, and approached Rossi, this got everyone bar Emily's attention. 'Learn forward.' He said, Rossi painfully moved his upper body forward as Hotch pulled the sheet away. 'I'm going to rip your top, okay?'

'Why?'

'I need to see how bad it is.' Rossi nodded, and Hotch ripped the top apart, he saw the line pulsating heavily with blood, signs of it being dragged, possibly when Rossi fell. They watched Hotch grab a new sheet, wrap it over one shoulder and under the opposite sides arm and tie it tightly. 'That should help stem the bleed but you need to sit back and push on the sheet.' Rossi just complied.

'What happened?' Penelope asked weakly. 'Why is he hurt?'

'Someone got him baby girl, but helps on the way.'

'How do you know?'

'We found a phone.' Rossi said and sparked to life, through all the recent mayhem him and Hotch had forgotten about the phone in his pocket. 'Hotch, use it.' He passed the phone over; by some stroke of luck there was still 2 bars of signal. They watched Hotch punch in the 3 digit number and ring. He put the phone down and smiled.

'They traced the patrol and back up as outside.'

They heard a commotion in the distance as it reverberated and rattled off the walls surrounding them. They readied themselves the best they could for freedom but then part of the wall came away and revealed a vent, they couldn't do anything as the gas poured in, Hotch held close to Emily and Rossi, JJ held on to Reid and Penelope gripped Derek's hand tighter. They started to gag against it, soon Rossi, JJ and Penelope, the weakened ones were overcome with whatever the gas held. Coughing against the intrusion of the unknown in their lungs the remaining 3 men checked pulses, all were steady, this wasn't gas to kill, just gas to paralyse them into unconsciousness. Soon Reid was too overcome and fell to side, then Hotch and Derek soon followed with quick succession.


	8. Family

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

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**2 days later**

Hotch coughed slightly as he opened his eyes. 'Aaron, thank God.' A voice came from his side. 'I'm going to get someone now you're awake.' The voice said again and left the room. Hotch lay there, slowly becoming aware of a small white walled room, a large window to his left, a bleeping noise that sounded and rattled around in his head, a mask over his mouth. He reached up and pulled the mask off, immediately realising he was no longer shut in the room.

He felt a new presence enter the room. 'Emily?'

'Mr Hotchner, I'd like you to stay calm while I check you over.'

'Where's Emily? Morgan? Penelope?' He asked, trying to get the words out to ask about everyone.

'Mr Hotchner, we'll get details on these people once I've checked you over... how are you feeling?'

'Hazy, please how are they?'

'I do not know full details on who's who but 2 are critical, 1 is mildly critical, and 2 are stable.'

'And the other 1?'

'I'm afraid they are the only ones that made it out.' Hotch entered a state of shock at that point, the doctor just worked around him for several minutes and then the bed was put up. 'Right you swallowed a large quantity of the gas Cyclopropane that was used and you were subjected to a prolonged amount of time inhaling it... as a result it temporarily weakened your lungs and kept you in a mediated sedated state.'

'How long?'

'Coming up 2 days.'

'2 days? I need to find the others.'

'Aaron, stay there a moment, I'll find out.' Hotch suddenly looked round to see his brother standing there, he had completely forgotten the person that had called him out of his unconsciousness.

'Emily and Penelope were the worse ones.'

'Okay I'll go there first and look for the other 4 after.'

'Thank you.' Hotch said as he felt tired again, he looked at the doctor. 'When can I get out of here?'

'I'd like to keep you for a couple of days just for observations, now you have a slight concussion from your head injury and your hands and arms are pretty cut up but I'd say you'd be back to yourself in no time.' He saw Hotch nod. 'Now I'm just going to say rest and I'll come back in a bit.'

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Sean walked the corridors, knowing that Penelope and Emily were both in the ICU; he asked about them again, having met them once or twice he felt a need to keep an eye on them, not for him but for his brother. He told the nurse he was back, as he always had to, and entered Penelope's room, she still lay motionless on the bed but she was breathing on her own, he turned when he felt a presence behind him and saw the nurse that seemed to always be there.

'She's been awake today Sean.'

'Been awake?'

'Yep, she woke up and we took her off the ventilator, she's just heavily drugged to help with the pains.'

He nodded, feeling a bit more at ease. 'Is there any change with Emily?' He queried Emily knowing full well she was the worst off.

'Afraid not... she's more stable but she's yet to wake up...but Penelope got off the ventilator this morning now her lungs have had chance to recover from everything, with Emily it's going to take a bit longer, depending on when she wakes up.' The nurse checked everything over before stopping and looking at him. 'Any more on your brother?'

'He woke up, fully now.'

'Ahh see that's good news.' Sean nodded supposedly. 'Go back to your brother, we still haven't gotten hold of Emily's parents so for now her and Penelope are alone but I'm sure your brother will be up to getting down here?' She said and Sean nodded, both were aware that Penelope's contact list was the team and Emily had her parents but they were usually off some place on a conference.

'Yeah he will be, already trying.' She laughed and pushed him on, holding her promise to call to him. He looked in on Emily and saw her in the same state. He breathed him and went to see JJ, when he entered he saw her still asleep, the same sight he had seen for days.

'Any change?' He asked JJ's parent.

'She's been waking up but not for too long.' JJ's mom responded. 'Any news on the others?'

'None on Emily, Aaron's awake, Penelope's awake kind of, and I'm just heading off to see to check on the others.' He said goodbye to them and headed off, when he entered Reid's room he found him still unconscious and then headed to Derek's.

'Everything okay Fran?'

'Hmm... oh... I suppose so, he hasn't woken up yet... how's Aaron?'

'Awake and demanding out.' Just as he finished, he heard a similar cough to what Hotch let out earlier and stepped forward.

Derek raised one of his damaged hands and pulled the mask off his face. 'Penelope?' He croaked, Sean smiled as Hotch's first word had been Emily.

'Baby let us get a doctor to check you over.'

'How is she?' He persisted and looked from his mom to Sean.

'She's in the ICU, she's been awake but not for long.' Sean said holding a bit back some information. They watched Derek close his eyes, in obvious turmoil.

'And the others?' Before he could get a reply the same doctor as Hotch came in, he repeated the process of reassuring Derek he would get the information soon, once he had checked him over. After he was done he gave the same bill of health as Hotch and promised to move them to the same room. 'It's Rossi isn't it?' Sean put his hand to his mouth and nodded. 'He only had a stab wound though.' Derek weighed up the injuries sustained.

'It penetrated part of his left lung, he was slowly bleeding internally.'

Derek nodded his head slightly, as he dazed mind tried to take it in that although the woman he loved was okay, another friend wasn't at all. 'But the others?'

'Well Penelope and Emily are critical at the moment, JJ's mildly critical, Reid's still out of it and Aaron woke up a little while ago.'

'Go back to him, I need to see Penelope.'

'Derek, I think you need to rest up.'

'No... She's got no one apart from us... I need to be there.'

'Okay well let me get a wheelchair.' Fran said as she stood and left the room with Sean, when she re entered the room Derek was sitting right up. 'Derek James Morgan!'

'I see your son cannot wait.' The nurse said. 'Mr Morgan we would like for you to keep the IV in but we don't mind you going up to the ICU.' Derek nodded and hastily got into the wheelchair, his mom pushed him up and entered the room, like Sean she had made regular trips to the rooms, regardless of knowing the two women well, in Penelope's case she had never met her and Emily she had only met once, when the team were in Chicago to get Derek off the murder charges.

When they went in, Penelope's face was turned to the window; Fran pushed Derek around to the side so he was in front of Penelope and then took a chair in the far corner on the other side. She noticed how Penelope gripped Derek's hand the moment she had it, she also saw her eyes gather tears and it was then that she realised that whatever went down in that place was far more traumatic than the reports she had heard.

'Hey baby girl.' He leaned in and wiped the tears as they fell. 'It's okay I'm here.' She closed her eyes in an attempt to halt the tears. 'I told you we'd get out didn't I?' She nodded silently.

'They said it's been 2 days.'

'Yeah it has... me and Hotch have only just woken up.' He said as he pushed a strand of hair, he saw her about to question. 'Reid, JJ and Emily aren't yet.' There was a knock at the door and both Morgan and Garcia looked.

'Afternoon Garcia.'

'Afternoon.'

He smiled. 'See you couldn't wait to get out of bed too then.' He said to Derek to lighten the mood.

'Definitely not. Where's Sean?'

'Gone to see if Reid or JJ are up.' Derek nodded, and looked at his mom.

'You don't have to sit so far away mom.'

'I know but I thought you two might need some alone time and I'm under strict instructions to not leave you alone.' Fran said standing up and approaching the bed, she smiled at Penelope.

'Mom this is Penelope, Penelope this is my mom.'

'Nice to finally meet you Penelope.'

'And you.' She looked from Derek to Hotch. 'So how bad are you both?' She said her worry growing.

'Concussion, dehydration, side effects of that gas and cut up hands.'

'Same here.' Hotch agreed. 'Penelope I'm sorry I didn't get out in time to help.'

'Me too... we could have stopped so much.' Derek said with an apologetic voice.

'This is nowhere near your fault; you got hurt as well remember.' She said as she tried to reassure them. 'I'm pretty sure Emily's not going to be thinking like it either.'

'Ahh you're all in here.' Came Reid's voice from the doorway.

'Family gathering eh?'

'Hardly.' Penelope spouted out. 'Go on go to Emily.'

'What about you?'

'I'll be fine.'

'I'm not going anywhere.' Derek said adamant and stood his ground making them all laugh but JJ and Penelope wince in pain. Hotch and JJ then left the room, leaving Reid, Derek and Fran to look over Penelope.

'He's really gone isn't he?'

'Yeah baby girl he is.'

The four of them sat there in considerable silence at the idea of life without Rossi, the fallen colleague that, alongside Hotch, had fought to get them out safe. Now they had to concentrate on rebuilding life, without him in physical form by their side to prompt them. It was proven then that life was turned upside down, with Rossi gone, JJ and Penelope hurt severely and Emily's life still hanging in the balance. It was times like this that family pulled together the most and that was what they did, banded together as one without even a thought.


	9. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

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The six agents crossed the green that was the graveyard and headed to the tombstone that had aided them in rough times throughout the past 5 years. Each and every one of them had come out here to just talk. Talk about the past, talk about the present, talk about the future. They talked good times and they talked bad times. They talked like Rossi was still alive, that he was still there to share the golden moments in life alongside the dark colour moments.

Every member had carried on with life, had moved on so to speak, knowing that that was what Rossi would have wanted. He was never one to stay halted and dwell, he was always motivating himself to push on and seek the better in life, personally and professionally. They all took that stand point in life and it had paid off. Every time they succeeded they thought of him, even sometimes when something bad happened. It was just another cognitive process to think back to family and Rossi would always stand in their regards as family.

They reached the gravestone, this was the only time they came here together, throughout the year they came and went but annually they would wander out to the grave with his favourite whisky and toast to him, to how he had stepped on the line and helped save them.

They looked at the grave, still kept nicely, covered in mementos and keepsakes of their lives, their family lives they had all built together. Family photo's stood out proudly. The Hotchner's made up of Hotch, Emily and their daughter. The Morgan's, consisting of Derek, Penelope and their two children. And Finally, the Reid's, Reid, JJ and their two sons. They stood around a bit more, passing conversation on before saying goodbye and dispersing to go home.

They all missed the fallen colleague but would thank him every time the men looked at their wives, and the women looked at their husbands and when both parents looked at their children. They were all reminders of what they had lost that day but they were also reminders of what they still had to gain, what they had to strive for and that was exactly what they would do. Day by day they stood together stronger as a family, a strong resilient family that backed down for no one apart from their own. David Rossi still played his role in all of their lives it seemed and he always would, it was just natural that way.

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The End!

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Okay... so the dare was to be mean, mighty mean, to them all and ultimately kill one or more off...

I want to thank everyone for their reviews and I'm really glad you enjoyed it!!

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